A number of collapsible shelters for mounting on a pickup truck bed have been developed in the prior art.
Many of these shelters have wall and roof elements that are made of flexible fabric that cover support elements in a tent-like fashion, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,477,111; 3,175,857; 3,367,347; 3,466,082; 4,088,363; 4,332,265; 4,566,729; 5,299,849; 5,988,195 and 7,404,590. Other prior art collapsible shelters for mounting on a pickup truck bed have wall elements made of a flexible fabric, and a rigid roof panel, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,294,484; 6,170,502; and 6,604,777. Although fabric is conducive to folding, it does not provide the same level of perceived or actual security against hazards of outdoor environments such as wind, precipitation, or animals.
Some of these shelters have both rigid wall and roof elements, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,807,924, 4,943,108, and 6,439,647. However, these shelters provide limited interior volume as the horizontal foot print of shelter is limited to the area of the pickup truck bed. Further, in the case of the shelter disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,924, the shelter has a steeply pitched roof which may be confining for a standing human occupant. In the case of the shelters disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,943,108, and 6,439,647, the clamshell-style opening of the combined side walls and roof may be unwieldy for a single user to operate.
Accordingly, there remains a need in the art for a collapsible rigid shelter for mounting on a pickup truck bed that can transform from a transport configuration to a deployed configuration. The transport configuration preferably occupies a compact volume that minimizes adverse impacts on the vehicle's rearward visibility, aerodynamics centre of gravity, and physical footprint. The deployed configuration preferably provides an enclosure that is spacious and well configured for sleeping or standing human occupants. The shelter preferably has a deployment mechanism that is simple to manufacture, stable, robust, and simple to operate by a single user.